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Civil War Regalia of Major Levi Gheen McCauley
George Cope (American, 1855–1929)
1887
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 127 × 92.7 cm (50 × 36 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- United States
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Quinn E. Delaney and Chauncey and Marion McCormick funds; Wesley M. Dixon Endowment
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
George Cope was commissioned in 1887 by his friend Levi McCauley of West Chester, Pennsylvania, to commemorate Major McCauley’s service in the Civil War. He depicted the ensemble of military artifacts in a style known as trompe l’oeil (French for “fools the eye”). With its shallow backdrop, precisely rendered objects—including swords, medals, a leather belt and buckle, a Major’s kepi (hat), and a holster—and accompanying shadows, the composition is convincing in its illusionism, drawing viewers in for a closer look.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
